Q. Who would you trust more to handle Australia’s relations with other nations?

%

Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party

41%

Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party

27%

No difference

22%

Don’t know

10%

41% trust Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party when it comes to handling Australia’s relations with other nations, 27% prefer Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, 22% think there is no difference and 10% don’t know.

Results followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and Labor (85%) while Coalition voters were more likely to trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party (66%). Green voters were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party (58%).

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party (37%), while those aged 45 – 54 were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and Labor (50%) when it comes to handling Australia’s relations with other nations. Comments »

Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?

Very important

Quite important

Not very important

Don’t know

United States

59%

33%

4%

4%

New Zealand

56%

34%

6%

5%

China

51%

36%

7%

5%

United Kingdom

46%

41%

9%

5%

Indonesia

40%

40%

13%

7%

Japan

39%

48%

8%

5%

India

27%

44%

21%

7%

Germany

18%

44%

29%

8%

South Africa

12%

41%

39%

8%

Over half think that it is very important for Australia to have a close relationship with the United States (59%), New Zealand (56%) and China (51%).

Labor voters were more likely to think a close relationship with China is very important (56%) while Green voters were more likely to think it is not very important (15%).

Labor voters were more likely to think relations with Indonesia are very important (48%) and relations with India are quite important (51%).

Coalition voters were more likely to think Australia’s relations with India are not very important (26%). However, these voters were more likely to think Australia’s relations with the United Kingdom (52%) and the United States (68%) are very important. Comments »

Q. Would you like to see Australia’s relationship with these countries get closer, stay the same or become less close?

Get closer

Stay the same

Become less close

Don’t know

China

33%

45%

13%

9%

New Zealand

33%

56%

2%

8%

Indonesia

30%

48%

12%

10%

United States

24%

59%

9%

8%

United Kingdom

24%

62%

5%

8%

India

24%

50%

16%

10%

Japan

24%

59%

8%

10%

Germany

16%

65%

7%

12%

South Africa

13%

63%

12%

12%

When it comes to Australia’s relationship getting closer with various countries, 33% think Australia’s relations with China should get closer, 45% think our relations with China should stay the same and 13% think they should become less close.

33% support a closer relationship with New Zealand and 30% support a closer relationship with Indonesia. The country that scores the highest in terms of one which Australia should become less close with is India (16%).

Labor (36%) voters were more likely to think that Australia’s relations with China should become closer, while Coalition (17%) and Greens (23%) voters were more likely to think it should be less close.

Labor voters were more likely to think Australia’s relations with India should stay the same (55%), while Coalition voters were more likely to think they should become less close (20%). Comments »

Q. Thinking about the Government budget set to be announced soon, which of the following is the mostimportant thing the Government needs to do?

May 2009

April 2010

Shift

Cut spending so we don’t go further into debt

24%

32%

+8%

Assist those on low incomes by increasing payments to pensioners and the unemployed

26%

24%

-2%

Stimulate the economy by cutting income taxes

25%

20%

-5%

Increase Government spending to further stimulate economic growth

*

9%

*

Stimulate the economy by giving assistance to businesses

15%

5%

-10%

Don’t know

10%

10%

–

*Not asked in 2009 survey.

32% of people think that the most important thing that the Government needs to do in the upcoming budget is cut spending so we don’t go further into debt, 24% think increasing payments to pensioners and the unemployed is the most important thing the Government needs to do and 20% think the budget should include stimulating the economy by cutting income taxes.

Coalition voters were more likely to think the most important thing that should be included in the upcoming budget are cuts to spending so we don’t go further into debt (51%). Labor (33%) and Green (34%) voters were more likely to think that assisting those on low incomes by increasing payments to pensioners and unemployed is the most important thing the Government needs to do in the upcoming budget.

People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think that the most important thing the Government needs to do in the upcoming budget is assist those on low incomes by increasing payments to pensioners and the unemployed (40%). People aged 25 – 34 were more likely to think the most important budget measure should be cutting income taxes (33%).

People earning $600 – $1000 were more likely to support increased payments to pensioners (41%) while those on $1600+ were more likely to prefer cuts to income tax (26%).

The most significant shift since the 2009 survey is in terms of stimulating the economy by assisting business (-10%) and cut spending so we don’t go further into debt (+8%). Comments »

Q. If you had to choose, which of the following budget measures would you support?

%

Increase taxes for people on high incomes

41%

Increase taxes on businesses

8%

Cut Government spending

41%

Don’t know

10%

41% support increased taxes for people on high incomes, a further 41% support cuts to Government spending, 8% support increased taxes on business and 10% don’t know which budget measure they support.

Labor voters were more likely to support increased taxes for people on high incomes (62%), Coalition voters were more likely to support cuts to Government spending (65%) and Green voters were more likely to support increased taxes on business (15%).

People earning $600 – $1000 per week were more likely to prefer increased taxes for people on high incomes (53%), while people earning $1600 per week or more were more likely to prefer cuts to Government spending (45%). Comments »

Q. If cost savings need to be made in the budget, in which area should spending cuts be made?

%

Defence and national security

20%

Social security and welfare

15%

Industry and employment

7%

Community services

6%

Infrastructure, transport and energy

4%

Health

3%

Education

2%

None of these

32%

Don’t know

11%

20% of people think that if savings need to be made in the budget, cuts should be made to defence and national security, 15% think cuts should be made to social security and welfare and 7% think that cuts should be made to industry and employment. There is little support for cuts to health (3%) or education (2%). 32% think that cuts should be made to none of the areas listed.

Green (38%) and Labor (25%) voters were more likely to support cuts to defence and national security. Coalition voters were more likely to support cuts to social security and welfare (20%) and community services (9%).

People aged 18 – 24 (28%) year olds and 25 – 34 (26%) were more likely to support cuts to defence and national security. Comments »

Q. Do you expect that the budget will be good or bad for you personally, or will it have no impact on you?

May 2009

April 2010

Total good

19%

11%

Total bad

38%

34%

Very good

2%

1%

Good

17%

10%

Bad

30%

27%

Very bad

8%

7%

No impact

21%

30%

Don’t know

23%

25%

34% of people surveyed expect that the budget will be bad for them personally, 30% think the budget will have no impact, 11% think it will be good for them and 25% don’t know.

Coalition voters were more likely to think the budget will be bad for them personally (48%), while Labor (36%) and Green (45%) voters were more likely to think it will have no impact.

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think the budget will be bad for them personally.

Compared to the 2009 survey, the number of people that expect the budget will be good for them personally has decreased by eight percent and the number, the number that think it will be bad has decreased by four percent and the number that think it will have no impact has increased by nine percent. Comments »